13 September, 2012

The Grand Cru Plume Alaire chainguard harkens back to the golden age
of French city bikes. Back in the day there were dozens of companies
competeing to make the most elegant chainguards. They kept one's trouser
cuffs presentable and added a bit of style to even the most pedestrian
city bike. Today those old chainguards, especially the nicer models, are
very pricey and more apt to be in collections than on bikes.

The Plume Allaire chainguard is cut from aluminum alloy and etched
with the Grand Cru logo. Mounting hardware that fits most steel frames
is included.

11 comments:

Anonymous
said...

These are definitely beautiful! I like them a lot. That said, does any chainguard that doesn't fully cover the top and bottom of the chain actually work to keep your pants leg clean?

I can't help but think that on the backstroke and upstroke your pant leg can still touch the chain. I can't see anything other than your full chaincase actually stopping chain grease from being a problem, and that goes for every the chain guard of every brand out there.

I'm imagining that it would work well if the chainguard had a bottom half mirror image, that covered the bottom of the chainring and chainguard too.

Am I crazy? I think this looks phenomenal, but I can't help but think that other than the full chain case, with any other chain guard I'm still going to need to cuff my pants.

I really like how your chain guard came out! I notice that in this photo, you have the chain ring mounted inboard of the crank spider instead of the more conventional outboard. On typical low Q TA cranks this makes alignment of the chain guard impossibly difficult and fussy. Is this also a problem with the VO 50.4 cranks and is that why you mounted the chain ring inboard? I'm sure it's fine to do that, just a bit unorthodox.

I have an old French chain guard mounted with the chain ring in the conventional position and clearance is VERY tight:

Is the bottom bracket mount of the VO alloy chain guard compatible with the Plume Alaire chain guard? I am referring to the bb mount shown in the pic elsewhere on this blog: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_C1XrRVl3W8k/Ss4xeKo4RFI/AAAAAAAAJN8/zBvo6fUaVUg/s400/VO+Chainguard+alloy.jpg

If the bb mount is not compatible with the Plume Alaire, do you have plans of making one available? Such a mount would be far more elegant than the current attachment hardware and more in keeping with the stylish appearance of the Alaire.